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Brothers of Blue
The Brothers of Blue is a mobile monastery following the teachings of the Azure Lord. They are known as traveling performers, visiting communities and attempting to spread the love of music throughout the land. While the Brothers have never been involved in military conflict, they have assisted after battles in mending the sick. Creative Contributions The Brothers in Blue hail primarily from Akarv, and so have helped vastly to expedite the transference of musical traditions (such as bringing the Ralkish instrument, the "banjiolin", to Akarv, along with many other Jarulian string instruments). Their musical style is a hodgepodge of numerous nations, even incorporating some traditions from otherwise isolationist nations. The Brothers in Blue have very little respect for copyrights, and have been known to "steal" music from creators, modifying it and redistributing it to the public without even crediting the original creator. This is a subject of some controversy, but the Brothers do not believe in monetizing musical creation, and encourage complaining artists to join the Brothers of Blue (or the Sisters of the Cudgel) to improve their art further. Although they take much, the Brothers have been of great help to musicians that came to study with them (or that learned from the Sisters). After all, a nonworshiper who loves music is almost a worshiper of the Azure Lord anyways. Magical Contributions The Brothers in Blue have only recently began to tap the potential of music as a magical focus. The Azure Lord is an extremely old faith, and his worship was not unknown in parts of New Voldrania even before the Voldranians arrived. Through combining the magical knowledge of the Jarulians with the numbers and resources of the Voldranians, the Brothers and Sisters have learned how to channel music into a useful magical focus. "Music magic" as yet is not known to generally produce especially powerful effects, and requires both a great deal of musical talent and a great deal of "metaphysical understanding of the power of song". Whatever that means. The abbot of the Brothers of Blue is known to be the most powerful practitioner of this magic among the faithful, but powerful the practice was not birthed by the worshipers of the Azure Lord, and magic-using bards have been a known quantity in New Voldrania for many years. Political Contributions Although the Brothers in Blue have only been involved in matters of warfare in a humanitarian sense (unlike the Sisters, who have been known to join conflicts directly—in a nonlethal capacity, of course), they have been accused of favoring certain nations. Akarv is a beneficiary of frequent visits from the monastery, and most charity work is centered around helping communities from Primaria. Exceptions do exist, however. Skylyn is one. The Brothers have in fact bonded quite readily with much of Skythion culture, particularly the Skiths, who are both incredibly endearing and frustrating to the Brothers—theater is generally regarded as a distraction from "finer arts". Nonetheless, the Brothers have endeavored to aid Skylyn in many ways, whether they're wanted or not. In exchange, they have received many traditional Jarulian instruments. This has provoked some accusations from Ralkeis on the matter of appropriation—many of the instruments acquired originated within Ralkish isles—but the Ralkish are generally ignored, as they are weird and annoying as far as the Brothers are concerned. Despite all this, Brothers of Blue largely shrug off political ties. They are above such things. They are on a mission from God. Category:New VoldraniaCategory:ReligionCategory:Organizations